Surname
|
Fryer
|
Forename
|
Dean
|
Date of recording
|
Nov 2016
|
Year of birth
|
1963
|
Place of Birth
|
Aldeburgh
|
Occupation
|
Fisherman
|
Fathers occupation
|
Plumber
|
Present Address
|
Aldeburgh
|
Location Interview
|
Aldeburgh
|
Interviewer
Summary |
Nick Hubbard
|
Duration
|
16 Mins
|
No of tracks: 2
|
Track 1
Introduction: interviewing Dean at his place of work, Aldeburgh Front. Track 2 Dean was born in Aldeburgh on 5th November 1963. Dean’s wife comes from Aldeburgh and they met at the Latimer Club one night at a disco. He has a sister, Beverly, who is two years older than him. She is fifty-five and now lives in Wickham Market. Dean’s mother originally came from Westleton and his father was born in Aldeburgh. Dean’s father was a plumber and when he started out he worked for Reade and then worked on his own. Since her marriage his mother has always been a housewife. Mother and father have been in Aldeburgh for most of their married lives. Dean describes his childhood and youth. He went to Aldeburgh Primary School and then to Leiston Middle and Leiston High Schools. He hated school except for sport which was the only thing he really liked. He never did well at school “with pen and paper”. He played all sports at school but mainly football which was his favourite. He was in the football team at school as a centre forward and also played for Suffolk Schools. Dean left school in 1979. He played football after he left school but had a bad injury when a goalkeeper injured his knee cap. At that time, he was peaking and he did play again but wasn’t as good as before his injury. Dean remembers that his earliest memories as a child were fishing with a rod and line on the beach at Aldeburgh. His dad used to go with him and Dean enjoyed fishing and football when he was a boy and roller skating at the Jubilee Hall on a Saturday afternoon. Apart from that at that time there wasn’t really a lot to do in the town. When Dean left school, he had a job at the boat yard in Aldeburgh for about six months on a youth opportunity scheme. After that he went to work on a caravan site at Waldringfield and Nacton for about a year and then returned to Aldeburgh and has been fishing ever since. He worked with Billy Bowl for about two years from 1983, learning the ropes and then bought his own boat. Dean took up fishing from boats because he liked the beach and fishing. He describes how he used to come and help Billy the odd weekend when he wasn’t working at Nacton and Waldringfield. Billy offered Dean a job which he accepted. Raydon Woods up at the other end of the beach told Dean he should buy his own boat. He bought one for Dean and Dean paid him back. Dean never regretted making the decision to become a fisherman. Dean now describes his life as a fisherman. He enjoys going out to sea each morning whatever the weather and he likes every day being different. It can be a long day especially in the Winter when it’s cold and wet. The job also involves processing the catch and selling it. Dean sets out between two and three o’clock in the morning and aims to be back ashore by eight o’clock or a little later if the weather is not good. He goes out seven days a week in the Summer, but in the Winter, it would be January, February and half of March. During those months, he will go out two or three times a week if it’s worth it because it could cost him more in bait and fuel than he could get for the catch. He talks about how fishing has changed since he began in 1983. At that time, you could catch and keep what you wanted whereas now you have to put half of the fish back. Previously Dean used the market at Lowestoft because he caught a lot of fish and did not know what to do with it and the hotels and restaurants were not as busy in those days and the tourist trade in Aldeburgh hadn’t taken off yet. Dean estimates that he would have to send eighty percent of his catch to Lowestoft Market. So, at that time he would do a twelve-hour day and then take his fish to market which would take another two or three hours. Dean considers that, to some extent, the present situation has worked to his advantage. He is not working such a long day and although the fish stocks are still good they are not as plentiful as they were thirty years ago. Now with the hotels and restaurants and sales to the public he is getting rid of his catch each day. Sometimes in the Winter months and the Spring when there is a lot of cod about Dean has to ring a merchant and he will come and take the excess. He rings round the merchants and chooses whichever one gives him the best price. In recent years, the cod has not arrived in the local waters until just after Christmas and Dean will concentrate on long lining and catching the cod rather than sole when the water temperature goes down. When Dean originally started fishing he would be long lining in October for cod and now he is still netting for sole in December. As a result, he has seen a big difference in the climate. Dean used to start fishing for sprat on November 1st but now he probably won’t put a sprat net in the water until January 1st. So, for him everything is two months behind compared with years ago, He used to catch bass just in the Summer months but now they are available virtually all the year round. Also, Dean used to get nets full of plaice but now he is lucky if he sees a bucketful all Summer. Previously he couldn’t get rid of the plaice and had to throw a lot back. Now everyone wants them because there are so few around. When Dean was a boy he used to catch whiting and cod when he was rod fishing from Aldeburgh beach. Dean does not think Aldeburgh has changed a great deal over the years although there has been new building. Holiday homes have taken over Aldeburgh. He does have a lot of visitors and second home owners buying fish from him and there are people around most of the year. The only change over the years for Dean has been that he would have been better off if he had been allowed to keep more of his catch. |